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Monthly Archives: February 2016

Last Monday we experienced some of the greatest Baby Animal News of them all when we attended the aquarium in Baltimore!!! Oh, it was magical. Some highlights:

– touching live jellyfish and other sea life (all silken and graceful)

– a display of many different species of jellyfish under black lights

– a room with many tropical birds and a sloth, for some reason

– watching employees swim around in scuba gear feeding the fish

– a GIANT sea turtle with three fins

– a dolphin show. so cute/acrobatic

Also all the adorable school groups. So much fun.

Tuesday we had ~zone training~ which is a variation on the many, many meetings missionaries get to enjoy. Sister Walker and I instructed on the relationship between our nightly planning sessions that we have at the end of the day and the idea of being “instruments in the hands of God.” We invited an elder in the zone who is good on the piano and his companion to do a “special musical number” during our instruction in which one of them played the piano and the other one sang, but they each performed at a different tempo, all to illustrate the importance of good timing and following the spirit. You’re not a true missionary until you’ve done an object lesson in an instruction, right?

That night we had a pretty amazing lesson with a brand new investigator (to us). She has been affiliated with the church pretty much her whole life because her best friend is a member and has gone to Primary, Girl’s Camp, on Trek, etc. She has always wanted to join the church but her parents didn’t agree with it and minors need written permission of the parents in order to be baptized. She told us in our lesson that she had once contemplated forging a note from her parents so that she could be baptized. Fortunately, things have changed. She is 18 and lives on her own and supports herself. We met with her for the first time on Tuesday and it was amazing. After she basically taught us the Restoration, we invited her to be baptized. She nearly jumped out of her chair and said “YES!!! Can I pick who baptizes me?” Of course she could. We proposed a baptismal date to her and she said, “Can I get baptized the week before?!!” Of course she can. She is someone who reminds me not to take for granted the blessings of the gospel I have in my life. To add to the joy, she invited her parents to attend her baptism and they agreed to.

In Baby Missionary News, I got to go on exchanges with another Greenie this week. She’s a champ. We had a great time and I learned so much from her courage and boldness. For example: we were tracting around a trailer park and I mentioned that I really needed to use a bathroom. This is a common missionary struggle because we spend many hours away from a building we would have any kind of ownership over. She said, “Don’t worry, Sister. I’ll get you to a bathroom.” I figured she meant that we would go find a gas station when we were through tracting, but instead the next person we saw she said, “Is this your trailer here? Is it ok if my friend uses your bathroom?” I started to panic slightly because this person was a man and we are not allowed to be alone in a house with a man and without another woman. I had no idea what to do so I just prayed real hard. We walked in and there was his wife! Oh blessed day. My brave companion talked to them about Brazil (where they were from originally) while I used their bathroom.

Pretty much the only disadvantage to serving in the YSA is that you don’t get to be around kids as much, but during the exchange we got to eat with the cutest young family. The kids were hilarious and so much fun and one of the boys was named Isaiah. We were asking them questions as part of the lesson and Isaiah gave the right answer and I said, “Great are the words of Isaiah!” They kind of chuckled and I realized that they have probably heard that one at least weekly since he was born. Oh well. We were talking about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the second half of being baptized. I asked, “Kids, what happens after you’re baptized?” and they kind of gave me a blank stare and I said, “You get a special gift….” and I got some more blank stares so I said, “It’s the gift of the Holy Ghost!” and the youngest one finally piped up and said, “Or you could get a pony!!!!” Classic.

We got to teach an investigator who we love so much and whom we have been working with for some time, which was great except for two hiccups: 1) when she started brushing her dog’s teeth in the middle of the lesson, and 2) when her dog backed right up near her and farted right in her face as we were bearing our testimony. We eventually got the spirit back despite all the distraction. Some dogs just don’t know how to be reverent.

On Friday we had another amazing and miraculous lesson. We were taking an investigator who began learning last week and her mom on a tour of the church. This was her mom’s first time learning anything about the missionaries so we didn’t know what to expect, but she was fantastic and she loved it. We were walking past the offices of some of the leaders and as we were explaining that we have a lay clergy one of our very own lay clergymen walked out of his office and introduced himself warmly. As soon as we said the prayer and began teaching, Sister Walker and I both felt the Holy Ghost completely take over the lesson. We didn’t do anything but open our mouths when were needed to and act as voice. It was amazing. We showed them a painting of Christ from the Book of Mormon and shared the account of Him administering the sacrament on the Americas. They loved it. Then we showed them a painting of Christ and Sister Walker shared the sweetest personal experience of how her little brother is choosing to be baptized next week. We took them by the baptismal font and the best friend of our investigator told the sweet story of her own baptism and the joy she felt that day. We then invited them to be baptized when they came to know that our message was true and they both started nodding before I finished the question and said yes. The mom seemed to take herself by surprise by her own answer. Such was the power of the spirit in that building that day. Finally we brought them to the chapel and reminded them of Christ administering the sacrament. We read the sacrament prayers and everyone present bore simple testimony of the Savior. We were all crying. We then knelt in prayer together in front of the sacrament table. On our way out, our member friend took them by the plaque with her missionary brother’s photo and told them about his mission in California. It was perfect.

All the great opportunities we have had to teach this week have taught me a lot about joy. Joy is where peace and euphoria meet. The more we develop our personal character, the more we increase our capacity for joy. As I have been on my mission improving as a person through the Atonement, I have been able to feel joy in ever greater measures. Here’s what joy is: opening your mouth and hearing the pure words of the Spirit walk out. Joy is watching people change before your very eyes through the power of Christ. Joy is knowing that God trusts you, imperfections and flaws and all, to bring His word and His love to His children. Joy is the reason for which we were created and when we feel joy we are fulfilling not only our purpose in this life but our eternal purpose.

Sunday was another miraculous experience. We had two investigators at church who both loved it, and two other individuals arrived, one of whom has had a long association with the church but hasn’t been baptized because her family has been so opposed (much like our other investigator) and her boyfriend. Sister Walker worked with this wonderful sister in a past area and she just moved here. We set up an appointment with this sister and her boyfriend and we have high hopes for both of them. After church it was a beautiful, sunny day and we decided to walk around the park and talk to people. I really don’t enjoy street contacting too much because people are so often rude and because it feels futile at times, but Sister Walker was helping me feel motivated. We were finally returning to our car when my companion turned on her heel and started charging in the opposite direction. I chased after her and found the family she had been compelled to speak with. They were already in a conversation about religion and had many questions for us. We taught them a few basic principles and got their information for the Spanish missionaries to teach. She is a champ at following the Spirit. Later that night, we were visiting a former investigator in order to ask her for a referral. She wasn’t home but as her mom came to the door I whispered, “We need to ask her mom for a referral.” When we did, she pointed to a row of eight houses. “All of them,” she said. It was nearly time to go home so we planned on coming back another day to contact these individuals but after sitting in the car for a minute Sister Walker jumped out and said, “We need to go knock right now.” We did and three of the eight families we had been referred to were interested in learning more. Of course, none of them were within our YSA demographic but their local missionaries were very pleased to get a phone call from us.

As per usual, our week began with weird weather: freezing rain and then suddenly it was 60 degrees. #finaldispensationprobs if you know what I mean. Despite the ice storm, some members took us to Ihop (am I the only one who always wants to spell that “iHop”?) so I was happy. On Tuesday I gave an instruction in district meeting about teaching doctrine during street contacts, and we watched the Bible video of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. That is a really good one. It’s a great illustration of how Jesus was above all prejudice in who he ministered and talked to. I’ve definitely noticed on my mission that striving to be like and thinking about Jesus all the time has developed my personal sense of equality and my ability to see everyone’s divine potential. Great job, Jesus. As usual.

We also got to go on exchanges with the wonderful Columbia 1st sisters. We have three companionships under our stewardship who are training brand-new missionaries and this was the first of them that we went on exchanges with. Keep in mind, I have never trained a new missionary so I had no idea what I was doing. Sister Walker is very wise and has been a fabulous trainer to several missionaries. She told me, “Use the same skills with this sister as you would use with an investigator. You’re there to teach and to love.” In the end I was very much the one receiving training because this sister was a boss. She knew exactly what she was doing: she knew how to call upon the powers of heaven for help and strength, she knew her purpose and her priorities, and she taught fearlessly. I was so proud. They only have a car every other day (they share with the elders) so I was struggling to keep up with her literally as well as figuratively thanks to my shortness, just jogging along behind my tall companion as she strode over the snow, Legolas-esque. This is what I love about exchanges. Every returned missionary will tell you that you learn a lot from each of your companions. Having an extra companion every week means extra learning every week. Then extra tiredness because exchanges are exhausting for some reason. We also were invited to New Beginnings, where the girls who are to turn 12 that year are introduced to the program for Young Women and meet the other girls who are 12-18. Each of the 11-year-olds were introduced through little paragraphs written by their parents and read aloud by their leader. It was so tender to hear the love and admiration that these parents expressed for their daughters. Among the group was a pair of young women who were baptized along with their families a few months ago. I was so happy that they are able to have the programs and the people that the Lord wishes to provide as support for His teenage daughters. I can say from personal experience that it helps a lot.

On Wednesday our Relief Society held a Galentine’s Day party. It was pretty amazing: manicures, facials, a crafting table, and an ice cream bar. Relief Society at its finest. We all made cute cards for each other. After painting my nails a modest pink, we got our heads together and brainstormed a line of nail polish just for sister missionaries, with such colors as “Jumpsuit White,” “Prayer Pink,” “Pearly Gates,” and “Virtuous Beige.” We’re looking for investors if you’re interested. Anyway, attendance was great, warm and fuzzies were at an all-time high, AND a member of the relief society presidency brought a friend. This friend is not a member of the church (yet) but had lots of questions for our member about her own missionary service and when we invited her to learn more with us, she eagerly accepted out offer.

On Friday we had an amazing lesson with her. As we prayed and prepared we had a feeling that the doctrines that we usually teach first weren’t exactly right for this lesson. Sister Walker said, “I think we should really focus this first lesson on her relationship–” and then I cut her off and said, “HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER HEAVENLY FATHER YES YOU ARE 200% CORRECT” and she was. We showed the video “Earthly Father, Heavenly Father” (which is a great one, go google it) and talked about how our biggest goal would be to help her strengthen her personal relationship with God. During this first lesson, her boyfriend tagged along and at first he was more observing but as the lesson went along he got more and more into it. It’s hard to explain, but sometimes as a missionary you can really feel God communicating through you via the Holy Ghost, and this was just one of those lessons. We don’t really have much power on our own but being a conduit for God’s power is incredible. We invited them to a church tour and our brand-new wonderful investigator said, “I’d love that! I’ll bring my mom!”

We saw another wonderful miracle this week in an investigator who we had been working with closely and who had been progressing really well, but who just seemed to fall of the face of the earth, as happens with investigators somehow. She is moving soon and has a lot on her plate and we had long felt that she would have a priesthood blessing at some point, but we were waiting for the right moment to bring it up. This week she told us that she didn’t mean to ignore us, just that she was having a hard time and the Spirit told us that this was her time for a blessing. Our mission president’s family have become some of her good member friends and we gathered at their house for Sunday dinner and for a priesthood blessing. President Christiansen put his hands on her head and, speaking as God would have if He were their personally ministering to her, told our investigator everything God wanted her to know. It was a beautiful and sacred experience for everyone involved. I was just sitting there feeling that familiar and wonderful burning in my chest as divine power filled the room. Afterwards we asked her how she felt and she said, “Peaceful. So peaceful.”

We also got an opportunity to be instructed by our President and his wife at zone conference this week. We really focused on the doctrine of repentance because we’ve been emphasizing the core of what we are doing lately. It was great. We also watched a short news clip about sister missionaries from some local station in Orlando together. It was funny to watch them present the ~hot issues~ relating to sister missionaries in that sensational manner that is so distinctive of the nightly news and we all kind of giggled through it. Then the anchorwoman asked the sisters she was interviewing about the aspect of our dress code where we are instructed to wear white or cream bras (which is a simple matter of looking professional like any other aspect of the missionary dress code) and the room got so, so silent. It was hilarious. Working with 18-year-old boys is entertaining enough to compensate for the lack of Netflix in my life.

We also had our weekly dodgeball extravaganza at the church where people invite their nonmember friends and have a good fun time and we awkwardly pretend to be normal people and figure out if anyone wants to learn more. You know, the usual. As I always do, I sat on the sidelines and read the Book of Mormon. Usually people are very respectful of my safe corner for sports haters but this week many stray balls ventured near me. In yet another wonderful miracle, every ball that came my way just barely seemed to miss me and I got a new nickname: “Samuel the Lamanitess” as per a Book of Mormon prophet who was protected from all the arrows that were shot at him by divine power. I also got to experience periphery to sporting functions during our meeting that we have weekly with the elders and the mission leader. Due to strange but immovable circumstances, we had to hold this meeting in the parking lot of a high school where a wrestling tournament was being held. I felt somewhat uncomfortable in this setting and our mission leader, ever unflappable, just looked at me and said “Are you… perturbed?” I was. It was okay, though, the spirit found us out there and we were able to have a great meeting out there.

Finally, on Saturday we met with a wonderful sister who had just been trained in the practice of reiki, where a practicioner (?) aligns the chakras of a recipient. When we were visiting with her she was like, “Can I please practice on you?!” and so I lay on the couch while she studied my energies and returned them to alignment. Surprising to no one, the chakra which is associated with communicating and being outspoken was dominating all my energies. Oh well.

To start of last week, I was an Hermana for the day! It was mildly terrifying but it reminded me of a story from the book of Judges in the Bible. The people of Israel are enslaved and Gideon is called to bring them to liberation. Gideon gathers together a great army but God needs them to know that He is bringing his children deliverance out of His power and love and that they are not delivering themselves. God commands that anyone in the great army who is afraid can go home, and the army is reduced greatly in numbers but still not enough for an undeniable witness that it is God, and not the people, who is really doing the work. Finally He commands Gideon to bring his army to a river to drink, and says that those who lap the water out of their hands will stay, whereas those who get on their knees to drink will go home. Finally the army is reduced to 300 people and they are ready to fight. Likewise, This was a circumstance in which the Lord invited me to relinquish all of my resources so that I could learn for myself that conversion is a miracle authored by God and not an effect of my own persuasive powers. What a valuable and humbling lesson. A wise and helpful former Hermana and former Sister Training Leader urged me to study Spanish in preparation for the exchange rather than just letting my temporary companion work on her own with a useless companion following her around. Excellent advice. I did my best to remember all of my high school Spanish (not much… at all) and studied the pamphlets we would be teaching in Spanish, and of course I prayed for the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. With all of the cramming my abilities were still pretty meager but my good companion, Hermana Rodriguez, helped me translate a few short testimonies of various principles and questions I could ask, and I wrote them in the pamphlet. Obviously a teacher who is reading straight from things they hand wrote in a pamphlet is not going to be completely persuasive, but I went for it anyway. Clearly my efforts were meager at best, but the Spirit magnified them. We taught a lesson to the family of a recent convert and I gave my little testimonies and the Holy Ghost was present!! I understood just enough that when someone asked what the covenants we make at baptism are, I could open my Libro de Mormon to Mosiah 18 and say, “Usted…. leer?” We taught another lesson to a lady who just talked and talked and talked and I could barely understand anything except that she was talking about her grandma and halfway through the lesson the Spirit told me to share the final two paragraphs of the introduction to the Book of Mormon. I had no idea why, or what to say about it, or what she was talking about, but I just interrupted her and read the paragraphs in my halting Spanish and then didn’t say anything… but my companion bore what sounded like a beautiful testimony. I still don’t know why I did that or if it was the right thing, but when the spirit prompts, I try to follow without delay.

Because we just can’t get enough of experimental companions, in addition to the usual exchanges we also had a mini missionary! Oh, having a mini missionary is the best. Highly recommended. One of the most rewarding things about serving in the YSA is helping sisters in the Relief Society prepare for their own missions. A sister who is preparing for her mission talked to the branch president and was able to get work off for a few days and join us for our missions! Highly recommended if you are preparing/not sure/want to try it out. She is a real fireball and was so excited to tract in the winter wonderland we’re living in. She had what we call the “greenie fire” in abundance. I loved it. She reminded me of what I want to be more of. The beginner’s mind has many more possibilities than the mind of the “expert”, as Brother Suzuki says. Mini missionaries also bring the miracles, for example: we ate at Panera Bread after kind of a dry day, and on our way in my faith-filled companion said, “We’re going to find someone in there who wants to learn more.” She was 200% right. A fellow who was working there came up to us and started asking us questions and invited us to come back and teach him more. I was like… wait, that’s our job! But I won’t complain. In addition to getting street contacted by someone in Panera Bread, we were trying to find a potential investigator in an apartment and accidentally buzzed on the wrong house. A young man opened his door and said the person we were looking for wasn’t there, but my companion bore a beautiful testimony of Jesus Christ and asked if some missionaries could come back and teach him more. He said, “That would be perfect” and while we were getting his info we heard a tiny voice say, “Daaaaad” and he said, “Hold on.” and went and got the cutest little one with superhero jammies on just up from his nap :’) we asked for his name and he said, “Christopher” and then we asked for his son’s name and he said, “… also Christopher” so the whole day we couldn’t stop talking about how sweet and adorable little Christopher was. Babies are the truest miracle. We had almost the exact same experience trying to figure out the correct address of a long-lost member. A final tender mercy: not one, but two members giving us hand-me-downs. How do they know??

This week we also celebrated a slightly horrible milestone: our year mark. I don’t reckon I will ever be ready to leave, so I pretended it was my six-month mark instead. We ate cheesecake and tried not to think about it too much. On a happier note, we also tried to find appropriate ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day, for example:

– giving all of our fellow sisters princess Valentine’s that say things like, “remember you are a daughter of a King!” and “never forget your royal heritage!” You know, the classics.

– going to the mission home for dinner, where they had heart-patterned napkins, and sharing a spiritual thought with our mission president’s family (most terrifying thing ever)

– telling everyone that Jesus is my Valentine

– listening to a talk by our branch president about being lonely (seriously, that was the subject… 100% of the congregants were crying. It was actually a fantastic talk)

– Sister Walker dying her hair red on Preparation Day (not really for Valentine’s Day but for something)

– giving President Christiansen a President’s Day card, ha ha

Today I also got to instruct on ~teaching doctrine~. Have you read Elder Bednar’s “The Answer is the Doctrine” yet? It’s fantastic. A must-read for every missionary.

Don’t forget that no matter how many Valentines you have or don’t have, there’s someone who will always love you! It’s me. I mean it’s God. Well, both of us. And don’t worry, if you send me a belated Valentine I will still accept it 😉 5455 Columbia Rd, Columbia MD 21044

This week I have been thinking a lot about cleaning for some reason. I think a big part of it was that this was our TEMPLE WEEK!!!!!!!! which every missionary loves and yearns for and we were invited to study the 109th section of Doctrine & Covenants (which, for a little background, is revelations received by Joseph Smith and others for guidance in how to re-establish the Lord’s church) which records the dedicatory prayer that set aside the Kirtland temple as sacred. It’s a great chapter. Highly recommended. Because we were reading it so much, we began sharing the 8th verse, which is well-loved (for good reason!) “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” The word “house” probably doesn’t look like a real word to you anymore, but this verse is a wonderful one because it applies so well to establishing both the Lord’s literal house, that is, the temple, and also a building with similar sanctity, which is our homes. In studying and sharing this verse I have discovered that we have control over the holiness of our personal space. The above quotation describes well what we do in order to up the sanctity of the place where we live and we have been challenging people to study this verse during Family Home Evening and find ways to make their home holier. The wonderful thing about missionary work and gospel service in general is that you always get the blessings you give, usually in greater abundance than you gave. Leaving this challenge with several families inspired me to have a more orderly personal space myself where there are less objects occupying my visual economy and taking my mind away from the spirit. Now, historically I have not always been one to dwell in a house of order but the improvements I’ve been making on my mission have brought me greater clarity. Try it out!

For another example, we have a member in the branch who is wonderful to us, who feeds us often and well and who is a fantastic example of a saint who serves those around her. She has a good friend who hasn’t been to church in quite a long time, and this friend has a boyfriend who didn’t know much about the gospel but who often asks questions. this less-active member’s home teachers came to visit one day (great job, brethren!) and responded to his questions by inviting him to learn more from the missionaries. Gold star for them. Anyway these efforts culminated at dinner at this member’s house with her friend, her friend’s boyfriend, her friend’s home teachers, and the elders. Also Tinkerbell the pomeranian, obviously. About at hour before dinner she called us in a panic and asked us if we could do some service. Of course we could! We’ve been called to serve! As we cleaned up her house and prepared it to receive a gospel-themed dinner party, I got an opportunity to ponder on the simultaneously humbling and exalting practice of cleaning other people’s homes. It was a great privilege to prepare a space for miracles to be seen and for the spirit to be felt. I thought of Christ washing the feet of His apostles and, of course, the cleansing effect the Atonement has on our souls. This kind of service often gets undervalued because ~the world~ has a pretty negative history with women and the work we’ve often been assigned to do, but scrubbing a toilet and doing dishes have potential to manifest real spiritual power.

Okay, now it’s time to tell you all about the temple. Wow. Visiting the temple is a great privilege and only being able to visit semi-annually (as opposed to living in Provo and being able to go several times a week) has reminded me never to take it for granted. In the temple we get to see a sweeping panorama of the Plan of Salvation (which you can read more about here! https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation). It really puts everything into perspective. I had a few questions that I needed answered and they all were answered with a single insight. When I was sitting in the Celestial Room (which is kind of the climactic point in the temple and symbolizes basking in God’s presence) these words came to my mind: “My efforts aren’t perfect, but I’m doing my best and God loves me for trying.” That was validation that I very much needed. I am learning to rely on the Lord’s validation and approval and to not worry about anybody else’s opinion of me. The ideal would be to have the same opinion of myself that God has of me. I’m working on it. It was a much needed impression especially because Sister Walker and I have been having challenges with the work lately. We’ve been working hard and trying new things and doing our best and following the program pretty good, but sometimes nobody seems to want to meet with you and it’s easy to feel like a failure. This is a part of every mission, of course, and it’s a needed part of mortality so that we can understand the sweetness of God’s approval. Of course God loves me for doing my best despite any imperfections, and the glory of the gospel is that I’m slowly growing, improving, and becoming our best. A paradox of the gospel is that God loves us in our sins but He has promised to save us from our sins. We can receive His promised blessings and feel His love right this second no matter what we’ve done, but we don’t need to be imperfect forever. We just keep going onward and upward and eventually we will become the people we were born to be. Maybe not in this life… but someday we can be free of everything that holds us back from being fully and completely happy. That’s the promise. That’s the dream.

Another great insight I received is that creativity is the greatest source of joy. And just think of it: each of us has been blessed with the opportunity to worship the happiest and most creative person in the universe!

I mentioned earlier that the work has been a little slow lately only because it has finally started to change a little. We have truly had a week of miracles. For example:

– On Friday we finally got in with a member whose house we knock at several times a week but whom we have only met once or twice. We finally got to visit with her and it was wonderful. As we were walking out, the Spirit directed me that there was a specific person we should visit, who is so hard to get in with because her apartment is one you have to buzz into and there never seems to be anyone home. We arrived, buzzed, buzzed some more and then the very person we were trying to seek drove up and invited us in! And we got a return appointment for dinner with both of these wonderful sisters.

– We have been trying to work with a recent convert who has faced great opposition from a disapproving family ever since she got baptized. She hasn’t felt able to come to church or meet with us in months but as I was turning the phone off preparatory to heading into the temple we saw a text from her: “can i meet with you guys sometime this week?” Obviously we wrote YES!!!!!!!!!!!! and then went into the temple happy and at peace. We got to visit her and read “The Living Christ” on the floor of her dorm room. There was a wonderful spirit dwelling with us in the shadow of her bunk bed and she came to church the next day. I could just feel the warmth and happiness of the Spirit coming back into her life. She also has a close friend who has been supportive of her spiritually and who she wants to invite to learn more from us.

– A member who hasn’t been to church in a few months requested a change in her work schedule and came to church again at last, with a cousin who has been off the radar along with her. She also came up to us after Relief Society and said, “I have a friend who used to meet with the missionaries and she wants to start coming back to church and take the lessons again.” I was floored and frankly speechless for a minute or two. We came to realize that this was the same former investigator whose mysterious teaching record mysteriously appeared in our glove compartment a few months ago (seriously) which ends on an entry that said they had an amazing lesson and established a baptismal date for her.

– We had a random phone number from someone we didn’t know, and we called it a few weeks ago. To our surprise, she answered the phone and wanted to meet up! Then… she stood us up. But then! We called her yesterday and she told us how she had lost her phone and been frantically searching and hoping we would stop by. We were extremely surprised. Usually people are pretty casual about standing us up

– Sweet Sister Walker found out that a beloved family from a past area will be getting baptized this week!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!! She was laugh/crying so hard after we got the text from her former companion that she accidentally typed “Celestial Kingdom” into the GPS. We were laughing so hard we almost died. No results were found, but no worries– that road map can be found in the Book of Mormon.

Okay team… I love you. Go serve someone today. Give someone a long hug and then clean their bathroom and then write me a letter about it at 5455 Columbia Rd. Apt 213, Columbia MD 21044

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About Sister Asplund

Utah native serving in the Maryland Baltimore mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Graduate of Bryn Mawr College in art history. Activist, doula, and beekeeper. Lover of lipstick and the German language.

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“The practice of love offers no place of safety. We risk loss, hurt, pain. We risk being acted upon by forces outside our control.”
- bell hooks

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"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."
Doctrine and Covenants 84:88